by M Helbig
Decrona sighed. “Fine. Now can you come get me? I’m at the entrance.”
“How did you get here that quick?” I asked.
“When you die in a dungeon, you have the option of resurrecting at the entrance,” Decrona said.
Alizia stuck Decrona’s corpse’s hands down its pants and gave Olaf and me a thumbs up. It took us about fifteen minutes to make our way back to the entrance. We only encountered two brutes on the way. Apparently, Clewd had cleared most of them out and there was a slow respawn. Without Decrona there, I covered healing duties with Regrowth. It worked surprisingly well, though Alizia did have to use a healing potion for its intended purpose once.
After we picked up Decrona, we didn’t encounter anything else and made our way back upstairs. Decrona rushed to loot her corpse to recover half the money she’d lost on death, and more importantly to make it disappear so Alizia couldn’t do anything else to it. Clewd was nowhere to be found, though only Alizia was disappointed by that. Decrona handed Alizia the cape and Alizia split fifty gold with the group. With a new zone now open to us and no reason to stay, we ran to the entrance. We were fortunate that no new packs of brutes had wandered back through, and we made it unscathed.
“So, where is this city at?” Olaf asked as he shielded his eyes from the bright sunlight outside.
Decrona summoned her 3D map overlay for us all to see and scrunched up her face. “My information says it shouldn’t be very far from here, but my contact didn’t say specifically—”
“It’s straight north,” Alizia said.
Decrona walked into the middle of the map and bent over to get a closer look at the northern area. “Possibly. I’m missing parts in that area, but I’m also missing an even larger spot to the east.”
“North.”
“Of course, it could also be to the west. There’s a large gap here and the road leads right through it.”
Alizia picked Decrona up and held her face to the north. Decrona growled at first, until she took in the shimmering green city in the distance that had definitely not been there before.
Decrona’s mouth dropped open. “My contact never said it was so . . . Of course! Until you defeat your first dungeon boss, areas you can’t access are invisible to you, but no one ever told me Fen was visible from so far away. The cost of all the jade must have been staggering.”
Alizia picked up Decrona and carried her forward. “Whatever, Toto. This girl wants to visit the wizard today, and she doesn’t have time for your gawking.”
Olaf and I hurried to catch up to her.
“Toto?” Decrona asked. “Ahh, because it’s covered in green gemstones, you think it looks like that city from that old movie. Very clever. You can set me down now.”
“Nuh-uh. We need to get there fast. Maybe we can get you a brain from the wizard.”
Alizia seemed to be making extra effort to shake Decrona as we ran. Eventually, she did drop her—probably intentionally—as we reached some rocky terrain. It took her three healing spells to close the head wound and four minutes to catch up.
When we unlocked the gate to the new zone with our keys, the air suddenly hardened, and I felt a light sucking pressure from every inch of my body. The feeling passed after a few seconds and a huge sign greeted us. “Welcome to the Outpost of Fen!”
Alizia + Tavern = I Think You Know Where This Is Going
“Alizia, slow down!” I said as we entered the gates. “Do you even know where you’re going?”
We finally caught up to her a few minutes later as she stopped at a four-way intersection. There were signs pointing toward all sorts of shops and restaurants. Her head jerked back and forth as she bounced between signs for no fewer than twelves bars spread between all four directions.
“All right, Deccy,” Alizia said. “Which one of these has the best drinks?”
“I have no idea, but I’d think you’d be more interested in the auctions. Due to this player city’s close proximity to the most populated starting city in the game, it also houses the largest auction area.”
“Auction area?” I asked. “I thought Pyrite didn’t allow auctions, since being able to auction stuff makes it easier for players to make money.”
“While there aren’t NPCs for that, they can’t stop players from doing that themselves. As a matter of fact, there are no NPC merchants in Fen at all. Everyone here is a player.”
“How do players create towns?” I asked.
“From a very rare item called Town Stones,” Decrona said. “Let me take that back. They’re currently very rare. So rare, that they may not even drop anymore. They used to be much more affordable early in the game, but now . . . Well, I’m not precisely sure what they go for, but suffice to say, even the top guilds need to pool their resources to purchase one.”
“Neat,” Alizia deadpanned. “Bars. Which one has the best drinks? And before you ask, ‘best’ means cheapest with the highest alcohol content.”
Decrona spun to look at the signs that were pointing to the north and landed on the first bar she found. “This one, the Silver Bar.”
Alizia pushed Decrona’s hand aside. “It’s Silver Baroque, and it says they specialize in elven martinis. Everyone in the picture looks like someone I’d like to punch. What is the point of a monocle anyway? Deccy, you better find a good one, or I’ll punch you instead.”
Alizia turned back to Decrona, but only found a gnome in a bright blue hat with a tiny shovel. With all our eyes now on him, the gnome jumped with a start and ran away through the legs of the crowd to his left.
“Decrona left as soon as you started reading,” I said.
Olaf shrugged. “She said she had to meet her contact as soon as possible.”
“Fine, be that way, Deccy. But just for that, I’m not picking something in the north. I’m a-goin’ south, where I have a feeling you don’t want me to be. Why, I might even brush up against that precious contact of yours and embarrass you. Come, boys. I have lots of embarrassing brushing to do and I need you to keep me upright and hold my spare drinks. I know exactly where she’s going.” Alizia’s green finger landed right on a sign for a bar called The Shy Librarian, and she walked south.
I eyed Olaf and he shrugged before we both ran after her. Fortunately, it wasn’t hard to locate a seven-foot-tall, green-skinned woman wearing a multi-colored headdress.
With the huge crowd, the town was incredibly loud, a large part of which was due to the constant shouts of people selling things. I wasn’t sure what the “Bracers of Manliness” or a “Sword of Minimal Screaming” were but I didn’t have time to find out. I soon gathered that the auction area wasn’t so much as a location within the city but a description of the city itself. The southern area did seem to be where the most action was, however.
It took us fifteen minutes to make it past the last five buildings, and it’d have likely taken us longer without Alizia’s large body to push our way through. As much as I wanted to at least observe some of the auctions, Olaf and I were fearful of what Alizia might do unattended. She had a look about her that said she was about to do something stupid—stupider than usual. While I was slightly fearful of whatever they had for guards in this player-run town might do to her, I was more fearful of what she might do to other people and how that might reflect on the rest of her group.
I still didn’t have a whole lot of coin to spare and I did need my remaining coin as a buffer in case I ended up dying a lot. Although, fifty gold for a Bow of Flames was a heck of a deal. I was about to push my way across the street to buy it when Alizia’s scream sounded from inside the bar. My head shot back to the entrance and I found Olaf in the doorway motioning me inside. She couldn’t have been in there for more than thirty seconds, and already she was causing trouble.
We arrived in a modest-sized main room that contained the bar itself and a few small tables around it. Three archways led to larger side rooms. Alizia was nowhere to be seen, and none of the patrons were looking around for the source of the distu
rbance. I asked the bartender about it and about Alizia, but he didn’t seem to know what I was talking about.
Olaf, however, had a much better idea. “Alizia, where are you?” he asked in group chat. “I think that scream we heard was only in group chat.”
“I found him!” she said in group chat.
Olaf groaned. “Leave Decrona’s contact alone and get out of there. She said her contact would stop talking to her if she brought any outsiders. Horus and I need that information, and we do not need you ruining it.”
“I know that.” I could almost see her pouting through group chat. “I would never jeopardize getting the info you two handsome devils need. Although I could wait until the contact left and then scare the crap out of Deccy—but that’s not who I meant. I found that guy you were looking for, Horus.”
I think my feet reacted before she even finished, as I was running through the archway and inside the side room on the far right. Unfortunately, my feet were not very good at thinking, and I found the room completely empty. As I attempted to push forward to check out some of the booths in the back, I bumped into a rope with a “Closed” sign on it. As I turned to move to the next side room over, I saw Olaf waving toward the one farther away.
I stuck my head in that one and found Alizia seated near the back, pointing excitedly to the person in the booth behind her. She shuffled to the side shortly after so that I could make out the man. He had spikey dark hair and was now looking right at us. My heart dropped when I realized he wasn’t Nyytro, but then I remembered you could pay to change your appearance in the game. Reacting to the surprise on his face, and to the fact that no one else in the game could possibly be reacting that way to me besides Nyytro, I decided to throw caution to the wind and rushed forward. The man shouted something as he stumbled out of the booth and made his way to the back door across the room. Anticipating this eventuality, Olaf had already maneuvered to get in the way. Though the man bore little resemblance to Nyytro—or the original Carl he was modeled after, except that he appeared middle-aged—my heart just knew it was him. The man took a half step back in surprise when Olaf appeared and dove at him, but he was either a higher level or had put everything into Strength, because the force of Olaf’s tackle barely knocked him back. However, he was not strong enough to hold off the combined might of Alizia and me when we hit him from the other side a few seconds later.
“He looks a lot different than I remember,” Olaf said from somewhere near my feet. “But you know him better than I do.”
Alizia shifted, pushing my elbow into my belly button. “Anyway—short, dark, and OK-looking, I’d watch what you say next. We have you firmly in our mercy and fully plan to get our revenge for that thing you did to our bestest buddy Horus. What was it again? I know it was something bad, but I was kind of distracted at the time. Thinking there was a lot of rum and a cure potion involved.”
I tried to respond, but a boot was jammed in my mouth. After a lengthy struggle, during which my digital body ended up contorting into several positions that would’ve caused serious injury to my old body and only ended when I started to cast Heat, Alizia finally let me up. “What I was going to say was—”
My head darted to the side as I caught a flash of motion heading through the entranceway into the main room. I was about to dismiss it as some random person running by when I caught a brief glimpse of a shiny head and red facial hair. I had missed another person in the far corner of the booth! “Nyytro.”
“Oh, yeah,” Alizia said to my feet. “It’s all coming back to me. He stole your nitro-burning funny car, and you swore vengeance on him because your dad bought it for you. By the way, I thought the fella you were looking for was the other one?”
“He is,” I screamed as I ran. “Why didn’t you tell me there was someone else in the booth? Never mind. He’s getting away!”
Alizia said something, but I was too focused on my target to listen. I thought I had Nyytro at a dead end, but he made a quick right to go around a corner I hadn’t seen; the “Kitchen” sign should’ve been a dead giveaway, but I wasn’t exactly in reading mode. I was hopeful the path only led to a dead-end kitchen and nothing else, but there was a back door directly to the outside at the far end. Fortunately, when he jiggled the doorknob it didn’t open. I bowled over an unfortunate dwarf that stumbled out of the kitchen. I’d like to say that I apologized to him as I passed, but I was too driven by rage to think of anything but my father’s killer. The words “Got you now, you bastard!” caught in my throat as the door popped open. The lockpicks tumbled from his hands, and I swore I caught a smirk as he disappeared through the doorway.
No, The Other Other Fat, Bald Guy With the Weaselly Laugh & Penchant For Murder
As I exited the alleyway, I skidded to a stop. Nyytro was nowhere in sight, nor was anyone else for that matter. The alley led in two directions. One direction headed back into the main street, where the echo of the thin alleyway merged several auctions into a “Bracerhelmetpotion of Hardvisiohealing.” The other direction led to a sharp turn, darkness, and according to my map, the area near the main gate.
I guessed that he’d be more likely try to run to the main street and get lost in the crowd, and was about to head that way when I remembered my Tracking skill. The interface popped up and almost automatically scrolled to Nyytro. Evidently, if you thought about a specific person, the interface went right to them. It’s amazing what you can discover when you let your subconscious take over. The semi-transparent, red arrow appeared to indicate Nyytro’s direction and pointed to the dark, foreboding alley.
I pushed away all the lessons I’d learned from horror movies and ran toward the alley. A few steps before I took the turn leading to the darker part of the alley and all the likely ambushes, probable ne’er-do-wells, and definite diseases that its gloom promised, a loud noise sounded behind me. Once again, my subconscious—or more likely my nerves—took over, and I sprinted into the alley.
Driven by a combination of anger, fear, and revenge, I ran faster than I’d ever run before (though in hindsight, that was largely due to me activating the Sprint skill). I barely noticed my numerous brushes with the crates, barrels, and other assorted debris littering the alley as I unerringly followed the bright red arrow toward my quarry. I did pick up a debuff that slowly lowered my Hit Points in my madcap dash, but it faded shortly after I exited the alley into a nearly deserted side street. The arrow pointed to the left, but with the return of the light, I didn’t need the help, as the lone occupant of that direction had tufts of red hair and was running away from me. I tossed a quick Regrowth on myself and ran after him.
As I slowly, methodically gained on him with each step, my speed abruptly dropped in half. I silently cursed when in less than fifteen seconds he took back all the distance I’d gained on him in the last two minutes. A blinking bar in the upper right was the likely culprit; I had run out of Action Points. I lost sight of him a few minutes later as the street took a sudden curve.
I shot around the bend and crashed directly into an unsuspecting traveler. Offering a few apologies this time, I quickly jumped to my feet, looking about frantically for my target, but found no sight of him.
“Horus?” the woman said. “What are you doing here? I thought you were going to the north of the city with Alizia.”
I looked down in surprise as I realized the woman was a very disheveled Decrona. “I’m chasing after Nyytro,” I said as I helped her up. “Did you see him pass by?”
Her face lit up in surprise, and she quickly looked around. “Nyytro? I . . . think he went into that building there.” She pointed to the left at a sign that indicated it was an inn. “Or was it there?” She pointed to an armor shop. “Hmm—I’m not sure now. When you knocked me down, I lost my orientation. Perhaps it was that one with the purple sign down that way?” She pointed a block away.
Pondering which direction to take, I glanced down and to my surprise discovered my Tracking arrow was still there. I’d forgotten all about it. It
was pointing at none of the places she’d indicated. I ran to an unmarked three-story building that was as dumpy looking as a building can be when it’s covered in shiny gems.
I found myself in a hallway with doors to both my immediate right and left as well as several more doors farther down. At the end of the hallway was a stairwell that led up, and I had no doubt I’d find lots of other doors above. I thanked God that I’d picked the Woodsman class and reached down to hug my Tracking arrow before I remembered it wasn’t solid.
The arrow led me to the fourth door on the right. Inside, I found a man with a terrible combover sprawled on the dull-green rug in front of me. About five yards away, Nyytro had given up trying to open a locked door that led outside and was making his way to an open window when he noticed me. The tingle of Inspect washed over me.
I decided against returning the favor, as I figured I’d be better off not knowing how much stronger he was than me—and with the way his weapon and leather armor shined with magic, I knew he was at least significantly better equipped. No matter the odds, I’d never forgive myself if I just let him go. I raised my bow and gave him an intimidating glare.
I’d like to think his subconscious was at least slightly unnerved, or that the wheezy laugh with which he responded was only false bravado. At least the man with the combover was unnerved by it, as he ran from the room, nearly knocking me down. It took all my balance and control to prevent me from shooting him. If he’d run the other way, I had no doubt Nyytro wouldn’t have had the same control. I imagined a tumbleweed blowing across the space between us as we faced each other.
“You?” Nyytro pointed his gleaming blue dagger at me. “I thought I was being chased by—Doesn’t matter. You’re the one who swore vengeance against me because you thought I stole the Goblin Bodybuilder kill a few days ago, right?”
“No,” I growled.